Green-Card Engagement
by TheNovelArtist
Summary: AKA, how to keep your best friend in the country.
1. Chapter 1

"What do you mean 'deported'?"

Marinette sighed, turning to look at him with a frown. "I haven't applied for citizenship yet, Adrien," she said. "I mean I've been coming here on temporary visas because then I go back to China within a month or two. I didn't know I'd actually get the job here. I was, what, one of a dozen applicants?"

Adrien's brow furrowed. "But my father said he needs you to start now."

"Unfortunately, I can't," she said. "I have a week before my visa runs out, Adrien. I have to be gone by then."

He didn't want her to go. He couldn't let her. "There has to be a way to extend it."

"I already asked," she said. "And the process for citizenship is a long one that's going to take a while. They said… a year maybe."

"A year?"

Solemnly, she nodded.

Out of nervous habit, Adrien rans his hands through his hair, grabbing at chunks of it as he paced the floor.

"Adrien."

Suddenly, she was in front of him, stopping his pacing. She looked up at him with her beautiful blue eyes and a worried brow he really wished he could smooth out. "Calm down."

He forced himself to let go of his hair, and her lovely lips curled up into a soft smile. "There. Now don't worry about it."

"But you're leaving," he pouted, not caring that he sounded like a three-year-old at that moment. There was very little Adrien actually wanted in life. He grew up in a broken family, yet a wealthy one. They were prefect on paper, and he had everything he could have ever wanted.

Except a whole family.

He watched his workaholic father drive his mother away. And she'd left him.

She just… left.

Now twenty-three, Adrien had given up the hope of ever having a perfect family. He would admit that maybe he had trust issues. That he grew up in a family that abandoned him and a company that had used him. He'd been fooled one too many times in his life.

And then he met her.

She was still just a university student, learning the art of fashion in her home country of China. But she'd sent out an application for Gabriel's internship program, and despite the distance, Adrien's father picked her. He'd been sent to pick Marinette up from the airport three years ago, and that's when he met the bubbly sweetheart known as Marinette Dupain-Cheng.

At first, he thought she was cute—he allowed himself to have those thoughts about girls every once in a while—but slowly, she started coaxing an odd sort of friendship out of him. And he couldn't help but get swept up in the thought of having a friend.

He was always cautious though, never letting himself get to close until one day, when he saw Marinette passed out on her desk in the wee hours of the morning. He asked her why she was there. She explained that she had to finish a project and it took forever to find the right fabric from the storehouse while trying to find a male replacement model for her fabric line. But he'd never forget the answer she gave him when he asked why she didn't ask him for help.

"Because I didn't want to bother you. You're busy enough as is."

Somehow, those words resonated within him. Here she was, staying up hours after everyone had already gone home because she figured her own way through a problem instead of asking him for a tiny favor.

It was a risk for him, but he threw all caution to the wind and allowed himself to dive deep into his friendship with her. And that little give on his part made her open up deeper and deeper, and Adrien took more and more until he realized he really hated the word 'friendship'.

Especially now that she was two steps from leaving his world for far too long of a time.

"I'll be back," she assured, reaching forward to grab and hold his hands. "I promise."

"Marry me."

Silence.

"W-what?" Marinette asked, her blue eyes wide and confused.

"Marry me," he said, his hands tightening on her own. "Think about it. Marry me, you'll get a green card. You'll appear steady to the company, and considering _I'll_ be your husband—"

"Adrien," Marinette interrupted. "You can't be serious."

"I am."

Another pause.

"Okay."

His heart skipped a beat. Was she serious? "Okay?"

"Okay."

His heart beat wildly as the realization that the girl he'd somehow developed a crush on despite swearing off any sort of relationship just agreed to marry him. "Okay."

"Can…" Marinette's gaze hit the floor. "Can we talk about it tomorrow? I'm really tired."

"Okay," he assured. "Yeah, that sounds good. I'll do a bit of research on how that really works and we'll talk about it in the morning."

"Okay." She pulled her hands from his and started back towards the door. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Tomorrow."

With that, she grabbed her purse and slipped her shoes on while he opened the door for her. "Drive safely," he said.

"I will." She gave him a wave before descending down the stair that led up to his apartment, where they had spent the evening munching on pizza and watching a movie.

Adrien watched until she was fully out of his sight before shutting the door and leaning against it. He never would have guessed he would be so excited to be married. Never. Not with how his own parent's marriage had turned out. Yet here he was with a stupid smile on his face, reaching for his computer to shop for a ring.

He had to make it realistic, after all.


	2. Chapter 2

When she imagined being married to Adrien, it was far more romantic than…well, being a glorified roommate.

But then again, what did she expect? She'd agreed to this marriage to keep her in the country. It wasn't made of romantic feelings, at least not on his side. When she first saw the ring he'd bought her, she held out hope that maybe there was something more. But she should have remembered the conversation they held one late night in the office where Adrien said he had sworn off marriage. That it wasn't nor ever would be for him.

Why on earth was she a stupid woman thinking she could change that?

She started the timer, then went into her room to grab her sketchbook. Might as well burn through some pages while she waited for dinner to cook and Adrien to come home.

To the apartment they split.

She bit her lip. She had walked into this. Real marriage or not, they did exchange vows and had their names written together on a marriage document. They were legally husband and wife. She wouldn't leave. This was her mistake, and she'd stay with it. Because Adrien was not only her 'husband' and best friend. He was the love of her life.

Twenty minutes later, all she had was a sketchbook page of full tears. She heard the sound of the door opening and hurried to wipe the tears from her face. "Hey," she called out, shutting the sketchbook and pushing it far away from her.

"Hey," he replied, sounding dejected and frustrated.

Shoving down her own feelings, she went out into the living room to greet him and see what was wrong. Because she still loved him, no matter what. "What's wrong?"

"My father," he growled. "He's… _Gah!_ " He dropped his briefcase and slammed his open hand against the wall.

Normally, Adrien kept a tight lid on his temper. When the lid burst, he grew into someone terrifyingly angry. He was loud, he paced the room like a cat stalking pray, he flailed and fidgeted and kicked things.

And he needed to burn off most of it before she could do anything.

So, she sat on the couch and just listened to him rant and shout while he paced the floor. She let it go a while longer before she stopped him by standing directly in his path. She just stared at him, her eyes locked on his. He was a step away from her, staring back. Slowly, she lifted her hands to grab his cheeks and gently pulled his head down so their foreheads were touching.

He grabbed tightly onto her wrists and leaned into her touch, like it was the only thing keeping him steady and sane at that moment.

"You are not what your father says you are," she whispered. "You know it. I know it. Most people know it. You are skilled. You are competent. You are kind. But most of all, you are not him."

He sniffed and tightened his grasp.

"So who are you going to listen to?" she asked. "Me or him?"

"You."

She smiled. "Good choice. Because I'm not spouting lies."

"I know you aren't."

"Good."

"I'm glad I married you."

Her heart twisted. And it was times like this that she had to realize he didn't know what a marriage was. He watched his family fall apart. He watched his mom abandon him and his father. He had so much potential, but he didn't know how much it was tearing her apart to live like roommates and him think of it as a marriage.

A buzzer filled the room. "Supper's ready," she said, pulling away from him to remove the chicken from the oven.

Once that was done, the chicken cooling and the oven off, she felt arms wrap around her torso and pull her against him. "Stay?" he begged on a whisper.

She struggled against herself. She was just his roommate, but it was moments like these she felt like she meant more to him than that. Times when he just wanted to hold her, making her feel like she was the only important thing in the world, that she felt like his wife.

And this was what made her stay.

She sank back against him, surrendering to his arms, tilting her head back into his neck and allowing him to hold her flush against him. "Okay."

They stayed like that for the longest time until Marinette realized their food was growing cold. "Do you want to watch a movie?" she asked. "Eat dinner on the couch tonight?"

He nodded. "I'd like that."

"You can pick."

"Okay."

Adrien popped in a movie while she loaded up two plates of food. It wasn't normal for them to do this, but every once in a while, it was nice to just unwind and disconnect. And Adrien needed a little bit of that right now.

"How was your day?" he asked as she handed him the plate. "Better than mine, I hope."

She smiled. He always asked. Even if he needed to vent first, he would always ask. "It went well."

"Yeah?"

She nodded. "Yeah. Nothing exciting to report."

He looked at her. "No cool designs, new fabrics, fun embellishments?"

"Not today," she said. "Today was just… a day."

He frowned, waiting for her to talk if she wanted to. But she didn't and they fell into comfortable silence during the movie.

Until children started running across the screen calling for their very happy looking mommy and daddy.

Her gut sank as she was suddenly hit with the realization that one of her biggest dreams of being a mother would never happen.

Because her "husband" was nothing more than her roommate.

She bit her lip. Hard.

She'd been married to Adrien for a couple months now, and she was only _just_ figuring it out? How blind had she been?

She forced herself to stay, to remain calm. But the more she watched the family interact and the mom and dad have moments behind the kids back, she just couldn't help it. She sniffed.

And then took off running for her room.

"Marinette?!"

She shut the door just as she started crying. And she couldn't stop. She just sobbed harder and harder.

A knock shook her door. "Marinette. What is it? What's wrong?"

Even if she physically could answer, what would she say?

"Marinette." His voice was strained with worry. " _Please_ , talk to me."

Slowly, her tears subsided, but she still refused to speak.

"Marinette," Adrien begged. "Please."

She sniffed and wiped her eyes. "It's nothing," she said.

He scoffed. "That is the biggest, most blatant lie ever."

She bit her lip to keep from crying again.

"Marinette," Adrien said. "I'm here. What's wrong. Tell me."

She refused.

He sighed. "Will you let me in, at least?"

She almost didn't. Almost. But she was weak when it came to him. She reached for the handle, turning it just enough to crack the door.

Adrien entered slowly, cautiously. He took a seat directly by her side. He didn't say a word, didn't make a sound. He just sat there, shoulder to shoulder, waiting for her to start.

She couldn't do much more than shut her eyes and bury her face into his shoulder. It burned that the man offering her comfort, the man she should be able to talk to about her wishes for the future, the man who had given her his last name and the rings on her finger, was the man who would had unknowingly crushed one of her biggest dreams.

She sniffed and begged herself not to cry again.

Easier said than done when his hand came up to hold the back of her head and his nose pressed into her hair. "I'm here," he whispered. "I'm here. Whatever you need, I'm here."

Her heart burned and the tears refused to be quelled. So she settled for crying into his shoulder for the rest of the night. Better than telling the most supportive friend in the entire world that he was the cause of her problems.


	3. Chapter 3

Within the last month, after Marinette had seemingly bolted to her room crying for no reason, their little relationship deteriorated rapidly. Adrien hated it. Hated Marinette clamming up as she was and keeping quiet and even avoiding him at times.

It stung so bad. This was the girl that, frankly, he loved more than anything. Than anyone. She was the one person he could trust day in and day out. She was his soft spot to land after a crappy day. She was safety away from his father and all the fan girls and the fashion world, all three of which wanted their way with him.

And she… she had just wanted him.

He missed that.

"Adrien."

He looked up from where he'd been staring a hole into his paperwork to see Nathalie standing there. What scared him most was the fact she almost wore a bit of pity on her stoic expression. "I'm sorry," she said. "Unfortunately, we have an emergency at the photoshoot in Spain. One of the male models was injured due to an unfortunate fall. Your father was hoping to convince you to take his place."

Adrien sighed and rubbed his eyes. He hated modeling. Tried to avoid it whenever possible. It just brought on too much of a headache. However, the photoshoot had already gone two days over, and the deadline to submit those photos was fast approaching. "I'll do it."

Nathalie sighed, relieved. "Thank you, Adrien. We'll have you on the first plane tomorrow. I'll send you the information as soon as possible." With that, she turned and marched off.

Adrien sighed, shoving his face into his hands. Now, to tell Marinette he'd be gone for a couple days. He didn't know if this was a good or a bad thing, but he hoped that maybe a little space would do her well. At the very least, it would give him a bit of space to plan the very serious but unfortunately necessary conversation he needed to have with her when he returned.

* * *

It was lonely with him here, but Marinette was quickly learning that it was lonelier with him gone. He'd been gone just over a day, and she was missing him. She was hunched over the counter, staring at her phone, a message loaded but not yet sent out. _Hope everything is going well for you. Call me when you can. I want to hear all about your day :)_

And that was after she edited it, deleting all the _I miss you_ 's and anything else that sounded too… relationship-y.

Because they weren't in a relationship, even though Marinette wanted to be.

A knock came from the door, and Marinette perked up. She hadn't been expecting anyone. She opened the door.

"Nathalie," she greeted in surprise. "What brings you?"

Nathalie held out a stack of papers. "I'm sorry to do this, but you've been served."

Marinette's brow furrowed as she took the stack of papers. And that's when she saw it: _divorce._

Adrien wanted to _divorce_ her.

Her heart raced and the world was crumbling out from under her and she was left feeling numb.

Slowly, she shut the door, not even able to process how rude it was as she locked it behind her.

She bit her lip, holding it in as she walked to her bedroom. But the moment she shut herself in, the floodgates opened, and she sank to the floor. And sobbed.

* * *

Adrien was so thankful that they were able to wrap up the set quickly. The camera man was happy to "finally have a competent professional on set." Adrien was simply happy that they got the shots they needed to finish the set so he could head home.

He was nervous about the speech he had mentally prepared. One that would reveal that he loved her and actually wanted to become a married couple. He was willing to work on whatever needed to be worked on to make that happen. He wasn't foolishly optimistic enough to think she'd fall into his arms and say "I love you too, darling," but he was hoping that it would end with her wanting to give him a chance and step out on a limb with him into a true relationship.

On the flip side, he knew they could fall apart just as fast. She wouldn't chuck the ring at him, but heaven help him, if she returned the ring and the word 'divorce' dropped from her lips, he'd probably end up in tears with a shattered heart he would never care to fix.

He could only hope that wasn't what would happen.

He opened the door, expecting to see Marinette in the kitchen at this time, but he didn't. Heck, he didn't even smell anything cooking. He glanced at his watch again, checking the time. Considering it was close to their normal dinner time, the time he had said he'd be home by, it was shocking to see Marinette _not_ in the kitchen. Not when she loved cooking.

"Marinette?" he called into the apartment. "I'm home."

Still no answer.

Slowly growing worried, he shut the door behind him and dropped his suitcase by the door. "Marinette?"

And that's when she came out of her room. It took a second to register that her eyes were blood-shot red and that there were tear trails on her cheeks.

He didn't hesitate to rush up to her, only to be stopped when she took a step back.

His heart sank. "Marinette?"

"Why didn't you _tell_ me?" she asked, her voice broken and weak.

His brow furrowed, but his heart raced nervously. "Tell you what?"

She shook her head. "If you regretted being married to me, then why didn't you tell me?" she said. "Instead you have me served while you're out?"

Now, he was completely lost. "What do you mean 'served'?"

She held out the crumpled papers she was clutching tightly. "You could have told me you wanted a divorce," she said, her voice whispery and weak.

His eyes widened as he snatched the papers from her hands and glanced them over. _Divorce_ stuck out and had his heart pounding like a drum, causing the world to blur out. Finally, he found his tongue. "Who gave this to you?"

She refused to answer, refused to look at him. Her head was turned toward the floor and her arms were crossed. She sniffed and dabbed her nose just as more tears fell from her cheeks.

Adrien dropped the papers and reached for her hands. But she shrunk back and angled herself away from him. "Marinette," he said softly, getting onto his knees to attempt to put himself in her line of sight. She shut her eyes instead.

"I lo… I care for you, Adrien," she said, her eyes still shut. "You're my best friend and I thought… I thought we could make this work." She sniffed once again. "But apparently, this can't even be a mutual agreement."

"Marinette," Adrien said, shuffling closer to her and reaching for her hands again. Considering they were crossed tightly to his chest, the most he could do was put his hands on her elbows. "I would _never_. I hoped you'd know me better than that—"

"I feel like I hardly know you anymore," she countered. "You've been so distant and working late—"

"I thought you wanted to be alone because you were never happy with me here."

"I _was_ happy with you here."

"I didn't know," he said. "I'm so sorry. I really didn't know. Otherwise, I would have stayed."

And that's when she finally, _finally_ looked at him.

"I think…" he began, "We need to sit down and have a heart to heart."

She sniffed before nodding. "Okay."

* * *

He got her a box of tissues and sat her down on the couch. He then pulled out a blanket—her favorite blanket—and wrapped it over her shoulders, holding it there before taking a seat beside her on the couch. And then he cradled her face and wiped her cheeks free of tears.

She leaned into his touch, letting her eyes drift shut. She'd craved it so much. If he was giving, she would take. Even if it broke her heart in the end.

After a long moment, she realized he never let her go. Her eyes fluttered open again to see him there, still there and holding her and looking at her with concern and worry.

"Marinette," he said. "I think that this proves I really can't _not_ be truthful with you any longer."

She sniffed, knowing that she couldn't not be truthful with him either. "I want a marriage, Adrien," she blurted out. "A happy marriage and a family with kids running around like they did in that movie and…" The tears choked her up again before she could continue.

He shifted close before pulling her against him. She pressed her face into his shoulder and cried. Sobs wracked her body as tears poured out of her. And he was patient and held her in his arms against his side as he waited for her to calm.

"The movie," he mumbled once her tears had subsided. "The one that had you running away and crying."

She nodded, then took a deep breath. "Adrien, let's face it: we're roommates," she said, her voice so weak she felt pathetic. "And roommates don't have kids together."

He sighed, then wrapped her up in his arms and pulled her fully into his lap.

And she was so weak and needy for attention— _his_ affection—that she crawled into his lap without a fuss. Imminent heartbreak be damned, she wanted him to hold her for as long as possible. For as long as this fairytale lasted.

Which she doubted was much longer.

They were silent for a while, Adrien snuggling her tightly against his chest in that tender way she loved so much. His looks could draw many a woman, but if they knew his heart, he'd have all of Paris seeking his affections. Which was why she felt so honored to know what was back behind the barbed wire and stone walls and constant hesitation and fear. This man wasn't just her best friend; he meant the world to her.

"So you ran," he said, his voice worn and tired, "because with this arrangement, you knew you were never going to have that."

"It's my dream, Adrien," she said. "I never told you, but yes, I want a family. I want kids. I want to be a mom."

"And I took that away from you."

She sniffed and nodded. But slowly, her mind actually began thinking. "But I don't want a 'friends with benefits' type thing," she began.

"I know," he assured. "You're the type of woman who wants—no, _deserves_ a loving, doting husband and happy marriage."

She settled her head into his shoulder and gave a nod.

"And I want to be that."

She may have gotten whiplash from how fast she pushed away from him to look him in the eye.

He never let her go so she couldn't crawl away from him. Not that she particularly wanted to. "Marinette, to be completely honest, the reason I proposed marriage was because… I was clingy. I just couldn't wrap my head around you leaving, even for a year. I see how ridiculous that is now, but… I still don't regret it because I get to see you all the time and I love being around you. You're the one person in my life I've ever wanted to consistently _stay_ around. Even before we married, I never liked when you'd have to leave from a pizza night or a gaming marathon weekend. And then, when I proposed because I was needy and didn't want you to leave, I can't begin to tell you how excited I was that you _agreed_." He took a steadying breath, calming down from his clear excitement. "I know I'm a mess and I know that this, what we're in, is a mess, but I want to work at this. I want you to be my wife. I do. I love you, Marinette. I never thought I'd be saying any of this, but I love you and I want you here to stay with me."

Marinette had to blink several times. "Y… you…?"

"Want to make this work," he finished decisively. "And I know I've been doing a bad job at making this work. And I'm sorry. It's… it's not like just having you here all the time. It's more than that and I was an idiot but…" he sighed, hanging his head in shame. "I was so blind but I still want this to work because I still care about you more than I ever thought possible."

She swallowed, begging words to come. "And I care for you," she said. "A lot. I really… I lo…" she bit her lip, hesitant to say those words. But, she knew he needed to hear them. "I love you, too."

He positively lit up like a sunrise. His smile was wide, and there was a twinkle in his eyes, and he just looked so _happy._ She loved seeing him like this. Loved seeing the man who wasn't beaten down by the world and people. Most of all, she loved that she was the one who got to see it.

Maybe that made her a little more selfish than she would like to be, but frankly, she just couldn't bring herself to care.

"Then can we start working on this?" Adrien asked, tightening his hold on her. "Making this work?"

Marinette nodded, smiling all the while. "I think the first thing we need to work on is communication."

"What we're doing right now?"

Marinette nodded. "Let's keep doing that so we don't have another 'almost divorce' disaster."

Adrien's smile slowly faded. "Who gave that to you?" he asked. "Who told you I wanted to divorce you?"

Marinette bit her lip.

Adrien simply waited.

She sighed. "Nathalie," she whispered.

Adrien stiffened. "Nathalie?"

Marinette nodded.

There was a tense moment of silence before Adrien growled, squeezing her tight. "I'll have to have a talk with her," he mumbled. "Tomorrow. After I throw the papers back at her."

Marinette smiled at that.

They stayed curled up a while longer, his chin resting on top of her head that rested against his chest. She would have been perfectly content like that all night had Adrien's stomach not growled in hunger.

"Sorry," he said. "I'm kinda hungry."

"I'll make dinner."

Spaghetti was easy and generally quick. She tossed some bread with butter and topped with garlic and cheese in the oven, and they called that good for tonight. She wasn't up to making anything too fancy.

After dinner, one filled with tentative teasing and a little flirting, it was time to head off to bed.

Only Adrien stopped her before she could slip into her room.

"At the risk," he began hesitantly, "of sounding way too forward, can I ask that we share a bed tonight?"

Her heart suddenly started pounding and heat flared up in her cheeks.

"Not for, you know, _sleeping together,_ " Adrien assured. "Just snuggles and bedsharing."

Snuggles and bedsharing. A shy smile found its way to her face. "Okay," she agreed, liking the way that sounded. "Yeah. Your room or mine?"

"Either or."

In the end, they parted to their own rooms to get ready for bed before Marinette slipped into his room. Adrien greeted her with a smile and a dramatically outstretched hand as he lay on the bed. She swore that sometimes he was nothing more than a big child.

"Why do I like you?" she teased, grabbing his outstretched hand and letting him pull her into bed. He tugged her close, pulling her right against his chest and looping a protective arm over her.

 _Oh._ She thought, letting her eyes drift closed as she snuggled against him. _This is why._


End file.
